Resilient clip or clamp



Aug. 25, 1953 R. YOUNG 2,649,641

. RESILIENT CLIP OR CLAMP Filed June 19, 1950 lNl ENrjye. Ann Mme fioma/zze awry ma C.

Patented Aug. 25, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RESILIENT 01.12011 CLAMP Lawrence Romaine Young, Seattle, Wash. Application June 19, 1950, Serial rim-169,003

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to spring clips or clamps of a type disclosed in my prior patent application Serial No. 634,529, filed December 12, 1945, and upon which U. S. Letters Patent No. 2,512,081 was issued on June 20, 1950.

An object of this invention is to provide a spring clip or clamp of this type having great resiliency or spring action and one in which the jaws can be opened widely apart without permanently distorting the spring loop which forms the resilient portion of the clamp.

Another object of the invention is to provide a spring clip or clamp having two parallel gripping jaws which will always retain their relatively parallel relationship irrespective of whether said jaws are tightly closed together or are widely spread apart, it being characteristic of this resilient clamp that the two clamping jaws do not assume a relatively inclined position when they are spread apart.

Another object is to provide a spring clip or clamp having a trigger like finger engaging member extending into a resilient loop portion of the clamp, whereby the clamp jaws may be spread apart by grasping the clamp in the hand with one finger in engagement with the trigger member and exerting a squeezing force on the clamp.

Another object is to provide a resilient clamp which can be formed of resilient material of round cross section but which is preferably formed of flat material which has sufiicient resiliency so that the clamp will be self closing and will have a substantial gripping force but can be manually opened to provide a relatively wide spread of the gripping jaws.

Another object of the invention is to provide a resilient clamp which is well adapted for use as a clothes pin and which is further well adapted for use in holding fiat objects, such as photographs, display cards and the like in an upright position, said clamp having one plane flat side to provide stability.

Other objects of this invention will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a resilient clamp constructed in accordance with this invention.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the same.

Fig. 3 is a side view illustrating this clamp as it may appear when used as a clothes pin.

Fig. 4 is another side elevation illustrating this clamp as it may appear when it is used to hold a fiat object, such as a photograph or a display card in a substantially upright position.

Like reference numerals designate like parts throughout the several views.

This resilient clip or clamp comprises a loop 34 of resilient material having two opposed jaw portions 35 and 36 which are adapted to be spread apart to receive therebetween any object or substance to be clamped and which are resiliently urged into a closed or clamping position by the resiliency of the loop portion 34. Also this resilient clamp has one flat side portion 31 which extends from side to side thereof and has a trigger member 31 which extends into the loop 34 and is positioned so that it may be conveniently engaged by one or more fingers of the hand in which the clamp is held in order that a squeezing force may be exerted to spread apart the jaws 35 and 36 and facilitate application of the clamp to any desired object.

The resilient portion 34 of the clamp is substantially semi-circular in shape and the side members 32 and 35 extend outwardly from the portion 34 in substantially straight, parallel, spaced apart relation. The substantially straight flat end member 31 is integral with the side member 32 and extends across the clamp in opposed relation to the semi-circular portion 34. The clamp jaw 36 is integral with the end member 31 and perpendicular thereto and extends along the outer side of the jaw member 35. The trigger member 31' is connected with the jaw member 35 by an integral fiat member 33 which is positioned in contact with the inner surface of the end member 31 and serves as a guide to help prevent the jaw members 35 and 36 from assuming an incline relative to each other when said jaws are moved apart.

When these clamps are used for securing clothes 38 to a line 39, as illustrated in Fig. 3, they are preferably applied with the fiat side 31 uppermost. The clips are convenient to use in this manner since the jaw portions of the same can be quickly and easily spread apart by grasping the clip, hooking one or more fingers around the trigger 31' and squeezing with the hand,

These clamps can be made of round material but if they are to be used as shown in Fig. 4. to support a card 40 or the like in an upright position then they are preferably made of fiat material of substantial width. When thus used, as shown in Fig. 4, the flat end portion of the clip or clips may rest on a horizontal surface and the card will be supported in such a manner that it will not easily tip in any direction.

These clamps can be made in various sizes and can be used in sheet metal Work to clip several pieces of sheet metal together or they can 3 be used to clip paper to a board or they can be clipped to the top edge of a door and used to hang clothes and like articles on and they may be put to many other uses.

The foregoing description and accompanying drawings clearly disclose a, preferred embodiment of this invention but it will be understood that changes in the same may be made within the scope and spirit of the following claim.

I claim:

A one piece resilient clamp comprising a subof said inside jaw member and extending toward the other side portion in contacting relation with the inner side of said end portion, said contacting flat member and fiat straight end section maintaining said two jaw members substantially parallel throughout the zone of movement of the two jaw members toward and away from each other; and a trigger member integral with said fiat member and'forming afinger engaging element extending into the clamp in substantially spaced relation from the side portion which Stantially semi-circular resilient portion; tw substantially straight parallel spaced apa t Side portions integral with the extremities of said semi-circular resilient portion; one of said side portions forming an inside jaw member; asu'ba stantially fiat straight end section integral with the other side portion and extending across the clamp between said two side portions; a substantially fiat straight outside jaw memberintegral with said fiat end section and perpendicular to said end section and extending alongside of the jaw forming side portion outwardly therefrom and in opposed relation thereto; a flat member perpendicular to and integral with the extremity forms the inside jaw member, whereby when the clamp -is held in the hand the trigger member may be engaged by the finger and the clamp jaws opened by a squeezing movement of the hand.

LAWRENCE ROMAINE YOUNG.

References Cited in .the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

